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Saturday, July 01, 2017

The falling out of thieves

Wealth inequality may be even worse than we thought. Economic surveys estimate that roughly 85 percent of income and wealth gains in the last decade have gone to the wealthiest one-tenth of the top 1 percent. However, some think the concentration is even greaterThe super-rich are hiding their money at alarming rates, according to economists Annette Alstadsaeter, Niels Johannesen, and Gabriel Zucman reports that households with wealth over $40 million evade 25 to 30 percent of personal income and wealth taxes. Billionaires are stashing away trillions of the world’s wealth. The latest study underscores that tax evasion by the super-rich is at least 10 times greater — and in some nations 250 times more likely — than by everyone else.How is that possible? The wealthy have the resources to hire the services of what’s called the “wealth defense industry.” These aren’t your “mom and pop” financial advisers that sell life insurance or help folks plan for retirement. The wealth defenders of the super-rich — including tax lawyers, estate planners, accountants, and other financial professionals — are accomplices in the heist. They drive the getaway cars, by designing complex trusts, shell companies, and offshore accounts to hide money.The wealthiest 400 billionaires have at least as much wealth as 62 percent of the U.S. population — that’s nearly 200 million of us.Surprisingly, the working class do NOT pay income tax and many other taxes. This is part of the Marxist analysis called the Labour Theory of Value.

What "patriotic" capitalists complain about their partners in crime - the thieves of surplus value from workers labour - sweat, blood and tears - it's about them paying an "unfair" share of taxes to the government which is expected to maintain the up-keep of the wage-slaves to ensure a ready available supply of healthy, educated workers.